Nevada's eviction courts are identified as the primary setting where the state's housing and affordability crisis culminates, according to advocates. The Nevada Housing Justice Alliance, joined by attorneys, elected officials, and other tenant advocacy organizations, held a press conference last week following observations of eviction cases that morning. Ben Iness, the coalition coordinator with the Nevada Housing Justice Alliance, stated that "the eviction courts are the culminating venue of our state’s housing crisis and affordability crisis."
Tens of thousands of evictions occur annually in Nevada, reflecting an increasingly unaffordable cost of living. Iness noted the state lacks protections against rent hikes and rent gouging and has notoriously fast, landlord-friendly eviction laws. Jonathan Norman, the advocacy, outreach and policy director for the Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers, described the state's system as 'lightning-fast' and emphasized that reforming it is a baseline necessity. He highlighted that Nevada's process, requiring tenants rather than landlords to initiate court proceedings, is contrary to other civil processes in the United States.
Efforts to change Nevada’s quick summary eviction process have faced repeated setbacks in recent years. In 2021, when Democrats controlled both the governor’s office and the Legislature, initial legislation for reform was instead turned into a study bill. State lawmakers later passed bills aimed at reforming the eviction system in both the 2023 and 2025 Legislative sessions. However, Republican Governor Joe Lombardo vetoed both measures, along with other proposed eviction reforms and tenant protections. In his 2023 veto message on the summary eviction bill, Governor Lombardo stated the legislation would 'impose additional and unnecessary delays' and costs, making the summary eviction process more time-consuming for property owners.
Governor Lombardo’s office did not answer questions regarding a potential re-evaluation of his stance on summary evictions or tenant protections. However, his office indicated via email that he signed legislation in 2025 allocating $21 million in eviction diversion rental assistance to county governments. He also signed a bill enabling modest transparency around rental prices in leases, despite having vetoed a nearly identical rental transparency bill in 2023.
Attorney General Aaron Ford, currently campaigning against Governor Lombardo, stated via email that he would support efforts to bring Nevada’s summary eviction process in line with the rest of the nation and put the burden of eviction on the landlord instead of the renter. Norman expects Democratic Assemblymember Elaine Marzola, presumed Speaker of the Assembly, to introduce another summary eviction reform bill in the 2027 Legislative Session.
According to a Nevada Supreme Court report, there were 78,000 total eviction filings in Nevada in fiscal year 2025, with approximately 54,000 filed at the Las Vegas Justice Court. This number reflects a decrease from fiscal 2024, which saw nearly 85,000 eviction filings. The spike in 2024 followed the expiration of eviction era protections and rental assistance funding. Legislation passed in 2021, which paused eviction proceedings during rental assistance application processing, expired in 2023. Governor Lombardo vetoed a scaled-back version of this protection the same year. Despite the 2025 drop from the previous year’s peak, organizers warned last Wednesday that evictions continue to significantly disrupt people’s lives. Norman questioned the threshold for considering the situation a crisis, noting that 40,000 people facing eviction this year would be enough to fill large sports venues.
Democratic Assemblymember Erica Mosca and Democratic U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford attended the press conference. Iness recommended that all Nevada elected officials involved in housing policy should observe eviction hearings. Norman seconded this, saying it is the only way to truly understand 'the carnage and the speed.' He cited the case of a mother of three children, aged 9, 13, and 14, who was $3,287 behind in August rent. During her roughly two-minute proceeding conducted by hearing master Daniel Westmeyer, a landlord representative stated the missed payments caused financial distress. When asked why the court shouldn't grant an eviction, the tenant explained she was rebuilding her life after homelessness, but her daughter’s illness led to missed work and falling behind on rent. She pleaded for more time, stating she was saving money to repay. Westmeyer granted the summary eviction but stayed it for 10 days. Norman suggested that those who haven't witnessed an eviction often assume non-payment is a moral failing, rather than recognizing systemic issues where they live in a society that has priced them out and pays wages that don’t allow them to live.
Lawyers at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada filed a lawsuit last month, challenging the constitutionality of unelected hearing masters, rather than elected judges, making rulings in summary eviction cases. Norman stated that Las Vegas Justice Court is unique in Nevada for using 'unelected hearing officers' for evictions, while other justice courts use elected justices of the peace. While supporting court challenges, Norman continues to advocate for legislative tenant protections. Ford’s campaign indicated support for legislation making rent price-fixing illegal and limiting rent increases for seniors; Ford’s 2025 price-fixing bill was vetoed. Legislation capping rent increases for seniors, first at 10% and later 5%, passed in 2023 and 2025 but both were vetoed by Governor Lombardo. State lawmakers plan to reintroduce a 10% rent cap for seniors in 2027. Norman also mentioned plans to reintroduce other failed bills to reform habitability laws and enable automatic record sealing for evictions after a certain period, noting that evictions can currently remain on a record for up to seven years. Both habitability and record sealing bills passed in the 2025 Legislative Session but were vetoed by Governor Lombardo. Norman stressed the need for sustained energy in pursuing tenant protections, acknowledging that money never sleeps and financial interests are consistently engaged in every legislative session.